ORIGINAL ARTICLE Effect of thermal insulation using leather and carpentry wastes on thermal comfort and energy consumption in a residential building Hicham Lakrafli & Soufiane Tahiri & Abderrahmane Albizane & Souad El Houssaini & Mohamed Bouhria Received: 9 July 2015 /Accepted: 27 February 2017 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2017 Abstract In this work, we investigate the effect of the thermal insulation by leather wastes (wet-blue chrome shavings and buffing dust) and carpentry wastes (wood shavings and sawdust) on the energy consumption of a model building using the average climatic data of the city of Casablanca (Morocco). For this study, we used the dynamic thermal simulation tool BTRNSYS 16^ which predicts the thermal behavior of building and systems associated with it. Using this software, we evaluated the effect of the above material wastes on thermal comfort and building energy consumption. The type and the thickness of the materials were con- sidered as variants to choose the better solution. The average temperatures of building supposed thermally insulated compared to those obtained without insulation clearly show the thermal insulation ability of tested materials during the cold and warm periods of the year. Increasing the thickness of the insulator makes locals increasingly comfortable. Because of their performance, leather and carpentry wastes can compete with conven- tional insulating materials such as polystyrene and cork. Keywords Leather and carpentry wastes . Thermal insulation . Thermal comfort . Building . Energy consumption Introduction The thermal insulation in the building is a component of life quality. Comfortable and healthy ambient climate is possible only in locals where the temperature and hu- midity vary within acceptable limits. The loss of heat to the outside is mainly through the walls. It can be reduced by the use of insulating materials that reduce heat trans- fer through the building envelope (Meukam 2004). To increase the thermal resistance of a wall, it is recom- mended to use thermal insulators whose principle is to trap air in the smallest cell in order to reduce convection and transfer by conduction. Most insulators are porous materials with a high thermal conduction resistance. They are able to resist the flow of heat passing through them. Effective thermal insulation resulted in the use of an insulating material with low thermal conductivity (CERTU 2003). The choice of suitable insulation mate- rials is a key to limit the environmental impact and ensure a healthy and comfortable indoor environment. It is based on many criteria such as economy, appear- ance, and environmental impact. Research works have been developed to highlight the thermal insulation capacity of some materials. Products made from plant fiber materials such as hemp, flax, and wood can be used to limit the heat transfer. These mate- rials are renewable, recyclable, and sustainable (Collet Energy Efficiency DOI 10.1007/s12053-017-9513-8 H. Lakrafli (*) : A. Albizane : S. El Houssaini : M. Bouhria Faculty of Sciences and Technologies of Mohammedia, P.O. Box 146, 20650 Mohammedia, Morocco e-mail: lakrafli.h@gmail.com S. Tahiri Faculty of Sciences of El Jadida, Research Team BEnvironmental Sciences and Engineering,^ Department of Chemistry, P.O. Box 20, 24000 El Jadida, Morocco